Who participates in energy activism? Profiling political engagement in the United States

Abstract

In recent years, activists have increasingly organized to protest large-scale energy projects, and research has found that such activism affects project approval. Despite its increasing relevance, little is known about who participates in energy activism. This paper builds a profile of energy activists by drawing on existing literature to derive and test general expectations on resources, political attitudes, media exposure, trust, risk, climate concern, and local factors. We analyze an original survey from a nationally representative sample of the U.S. public to identify the individual-level determinants of energy activism and compare these factors with a more traditional model of political activism. We find that energy activists are distinct from political activists. Energy activists tend to be younger and more demographically diverse, more concerned about local environmental conditions, and, heterogeneous in their political attitudes. We conclude the paper with a discussion of the results, implications for energy producers, and suggestions for future research.